Oy vey iz mir, I'm so meshugenah I could plotz.

[tzikeh]

A discussion about New York bagels and the term "schmear" meaning "a thick layer of cream cheese" turned into a discussion of the impact a specific subculture can have on the dominant language. Since those kind of thoughts tend to stick around in my particular brand of brain, that led to this poll.

Poll #9501 Oy vey iz mir, I

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 186

View Respondents

I was raised Jewish/culturally Jewish, and I have used the following Yiddish words in conversation:

View Answers

bubbeleh
19 (50.0%)

bubkes/bupkis
23 (60.5%)

chutzpah
37 (97.4%)

dreck
29 (76.3%)

farklempt/verklempt
21 (55.3%)

farkakte
10 (26.3%)

feh
25 (65.8%)

kibitz (not to be confused with "kibbutz")
27 (71.1%)

kitsch
33 (86.8%)

klutz
38 (100.0%)

kvell
20 (52.6%)

l'chaim
28 (73.7%)

maven
20 (52.6%)

mazel tov
34 (89.5%)

mensch
34 (89.5%)

meshugenah
25 (65.8%)

mishegoss
20 (52.6%)

nebbish
20 (52.6%)

nosh
30 (78.9%)

nudnik
16 (42.1%)

oy and/or variants (oy vey / oy gevalt / oy vey iz mir)
35 (92.1%)

plotz
16 (42.1%)

putz
27 (71.1%)

schlepp
35 (92.1%)

schlock
24 (63.2%)

schlong
20 (52.6%)

schlub
18 (47.4%)

schmaltz
28 (73.7%)

schmear
28 (73.7%)

schmo
19 (50.0%)

schmuck
34 (89.5%)

schmutz
25 (65.8%)

schnook
8 (21.1%)

schtick
28 (73.7%)

schvitz
10 (26.3%)

schmatte
16 (42.1%)

shmooze
33 (86.8%)

shpiel
32 (84.2%)

tchotchke (pronounced "chahch-key")
35 (92.1%)

trayfe
20 (52.6%)

tsuris
16 (42.1%)

tuchus
24 (63.2%)

yenta
25 (65.8%)

zaftig
23 (60.5%)

I was NOT raised Jewish/culturally Jewish, and I have used the following Yiddish words in conversation:

View Answers

bubbeleh
29 (19.6%)

bubkes/bupkis
83 (56.1%)

chutzpah
126 (85.1%)

dreck
101 (68.2%)

farklempt/verklempt
83 (56.1%)

farkakte
16 (10.8%)

feh
75 (50.7%)

kibitz (not to be confused with "kibbutz")
85 (57.4%)

kitsch
127 (85.8%)

klutz
136 (91.9%)

kvell
21 (14.2%)

l'chaim
51 (34.5%)

maven
57 (38.5%)

mazel tov
95 (64.2%)

mensch
69 (46.6%)

meshugenah
42 (28.4%)

mishegoss
18 (12.2%)

nebbish
51 (34.5%)

nosh
74 (50.0%)

nudnik
20 (13.5%)

oy and/or variants (oy vey / oy gevalt / oy vey iz mir)
120 (81.1%)

plotz
37 (25.0%)

putz
99 (66.9%)

schlepp
124 (83.8%)

schlock
75 (50.7%)

schlong
72 (48.6%)

schlub
56 (37.8%)

schmaltz
102 (68.9%)

schmear
66 (44.6%)

schmo
40 (27.0%)

schmuck
127 (85.8%)

schmutz
62 (41.9%)

schnook
20 (13.5%)

schtick
90 (60.8%)

schvitz
15 (10.1%)

schmatte
11 (7.4%)

shmooze
112 (75.7%)

shpiel
101 (68.2%)

tchotchke (pronounced "chahch-key")
115 (77.7%)

trayfe
21 (14.2%)

tsuris
15 (10.1%)

tuchus
54 (36.5%)

yenta
92 (62.2%)

zaftig
74 (50.0%)

Comments

[cathexys]

This was really hard, because I had to think of the terms that are just German to me and those I know I pulled from Yiddish in English.

Something like kitsch, for example, I wouldn't be sure of how it entered English...

[tzikeh]

I would imagine they would enter English just like all the other words--enough Jewish people used it in conversation that it was absorbed. Why would kitsch be different from, say, shmooze?

[cathexys]

Because afaik, it's a German and not a Yiddish loan word that entered English use via aesthetic and art movements after becoming popularized in German in the early 20th century.

There are other words, that may come into English via Yiddish but have continued to be used in German (sometimes with the same, sometimes with an entirely different meaning). So *for me*, I often can't say whether I use verklempt, because it's a word in my native language or one i've picked up as an English expression. And when I say Schmuck and Mensch, I mean different things whether I say them as German words or as Yiddish into English loan words.

[tzikeh]

Kitsch is a word in Yiddish as well as German, meaning the same thing, and most likely came to prominence in America from Jewish immigrants, rather than from the art world. Loan words tend to come to prominence through usage by the working and business classes, not the elite or academic classes.

[frogspace.livejournal.com]

And when I say Schmuck and Mensch, I mean different things whether I say them as German words or as Yiddish into English loan words.

Huh. That would explain why I can't make sense of them when I encounter them in English. Schmuck=jewelry and Mensch=human. What do schmuck and mensch mean?

[tzikeh]

"Schmuck" is a Yiddish slang term for penis--so literally "What a schmuck" is "what a dick." But it isn't necessarily literal; basically it means an obnoxious, awful person.

"Mensch" is literally "human," as you say, but the flavor in Yiddish is "a good guy." For example, if a guy was willing to leave his house on a snowy Saturday to help me shovel my drive, I'd say he was a real mensch.

[frogspace.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the explanation! :)

[brownbetty]

I was going to say, some of those words I'm pretty sure I picked up from the local mennonite enclave, although some of those are standard English vocabulary, to me.